A tender moment
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: First Class movieverse. Oneshot. Pre-slash. Training isn't all it's cracked up to be. Charles has his own barriers to break. Slight spoilers! Charles&Erik.


**A tender moment**

An X-men: First Class oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _X-men_ characters are the property of Marvel Comics, but at least this fic is mine! So read, review, and enjoy!

**oOoOoOo**

"All right. I'd like you to try something."

Erik smiled, confident. "Anything."

Charles swallowed the lump in his throat. This was going to be difficult, he imagined, and Erik was not making this any easier by being so jovial around him. "Fine then… Turn that to face us," he said, pointing to the large metal satellite on the grounds of the Xavier estate.

The color drained from the metal magician's face. His voice was shaky as he asked, "That…? Are you joking?"

"I know you can do it."

"Yes, and you told Alex he can focus his power." Erik snorted. "…I'll see what I can do."

Charles allowed Erik to gently push him aside, and Charles watched from behind as Erik stuck out both of his hands towards the satellite. It was always interesting to watch Erik use his powers, for oftentimes he seemed as though he were doing nothing at all. Then there were these instances, when he had both hands up and his face was generously flushed and all his concentration was so centered on his task that he nearly blocked the world out.

He couldn't move it. "Told you so," Erik nagged, breathing heavily and leaning on the stone railing.

The telepath tentatively took a step closer. "Don't be that way, Erik."

"Charles, my powers work best when I'm angry. I mean, that's bigger than Schmidt's boat. And I've little anger in me today."

"You know…I have a feeling, that your powers—their strength comes from your perfect concentration, which can be found probably somewhere between your anger…and your calm."

"I have no 'calm.'"

Charles frowned at Erik's jesting grin. The telepath raised two fingers to his own temple. "May I?"

Erik seemed to fight back a sigh. "Go ahead."

Charles pressed his fingers into his temple and concentrated. It was easy enough to block out everything else and focus on Erik. Charles found his mind fell the easiest into his friend's, and he often wondered if—despite all his complaining—Erik was the one at the most peace with Charles' probing. The others weren't too happy when he did it, but Erik had this kind of…_inane trust_ in him. It was quite flattering, and Charles stopped dwelling on it, for his face was growing warm—and _not_ from the use of his powers.

Inside Erik's mind, he weaved his way through the recent memories—trying to turn the satellite, eating dinner last night, watching the younger mutants train, watching Charles himself read a book, glaring at Moira as she interrupted Erik and Charles' conversation, watching Charles go off to think on a walk down some corridor, over and over and over. Charles was surprised and broke his concentration for a split second, but Erik just stared at him, his poker face nicely set. Charles resumed his mindreading, pushing past the older recent memories—coming to the Xavier estate, finding other mutants, going to that offshoot CIA building, being found by the Coast Guard and Charles and Moira, being rescued…well, interrupted by Charles with his arms around Erik's chest in the water and his words filling Erik's brain while he had that annoyingly sweet and caring look on his face. The telepath paused again but didn't look at his friend this time; if he entered those dangerous waters, he'd have to talk to Erik about them later. Right now, he needed to push even harder.

So deeper Charles went, through Erik's early twenties and all the way into his childhood. Charles ignored the memories of Shaw, Schmidt, whatever the bloody villain was calling himself now, and found…_good_ thoughts, _happy_ little memories. One stood out, spoke out to Charles, of a young Erik celebrating a religious holiday with his mother, Edie. They gently sang whilst they lit a menorah for Chanukah, and Charles found emotion welling up inside both him and Erik—so much so that Charles broke his concentration and stared into the eyes of today's Erik. Charles saw a tear slip down Erik's right cheek, and he felt one slip down his own left one.

Yes. Now _that_ was a powerful memory.

"That was a beautiful memory, Erik. Thank you for sharing with me," Charles breathed.

Erik stiffly nodded. "It's one of…before things happened. Before she died."

Charles nodded. Early on when they'd first met, he'd skimmed through Erik's mind, almost like a safety precaution. He knew exactly when and how Edie Lensherr had died.

"Now what?" Erik asked, some exasperation leaking into his tone.

"Now try," the telepath suggested, urging his friend on with an understanding smile.

Erik sighed and faced the satellite once more. He put a hand up and thought of happier times, of times when he hadn't been so full of anger.

Charles prayed for the best.

With a little more patience, both men heard the scrap of metal, and they watched as the satellite slowly began turning towards them. Charles released a breathy laugh and clapped his hands together, walking to Erik's side. He looked at his friend.

"You said it should face us."

"That was amazing!" The telepath laughed, and even the metal magician found it into him to smile, albeit slightly. "See? You can do anything if you put your mind to it."

"Or if we put _your_ mind to it," Erik gently teased.

"Yes, yes… Well, shall we move on?" Charles suggested, gesturing to the path ahead of them.

Erik nodded and fell into step beside the professor. "So, Charles…"

"Mmm?" He stopped watching his feet and picked his head up.

"While you were rooting around in my head…"

"Yes?"

Erik smirked at him, a kind of…come-hither? smirk that Charles hadn't really seen on him before. It made Charles clear his mind, as his pulse kicked up a bit. "While you were there, did you find anything you liked?"

That was it. Charles knew his face must've looked as red as Raven's hair. But honestly—how was he supposed to answer that?

Erik laughed. "Come now, Charles, and share with me what's on your mind. Though I have an idea."

The telepath inwardly groaned. Sometimes he wondered if _Erik_ was the mind reader.

**oOoOoOo**

**XD Sweet! I do love them. And I love writing condescending/playful Erik. He's not evil at all! ;]**

**Drop a review, pleasey, and check out my other Charlerik fics, too! Thanks!**

**-mew-tsubaki :}**


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